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At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, it's all about mobile -- and mostly about Android. Strictly speaking, that's not true; there were also plenty of HDTVs, stereo speakers, and other home entertainment wares on display, but the main events have all been about mobile. Naturally, every demo is accompanied by breathless praise by executives of their own "groundbreaking" products -- but beyond the hype, is there anything really important coming out of CES?

Yes, there are plenty of products whose chief innovation is a cosmetic change, but in fact CES 2011's mobile parade reveals key developments for both users and businesses to track in the coming year. After the Las Vegas Convention Center empties out this weekend and everyone returns home, here's what will continue to matter.

"Consumers are increasingly using smartphones as their primary digital screens," says Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer at Motorola Mobility. He's right -- the iPad showed the way, but this is the first concrete step from outside the world of Steve Jobs that is moving us in this direction.

All of these devices, despite their different implementations, have a common vision: People are moving away from traditional PCs and laptops to mobile hardware such as iPads, other tablets, and perhaps thin-client laptops like the Chromebooks.